1 Timothy 6:20-21 20O Timothy, guard the trust, turning away from worthless chatter and the the contradiction of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21which some having professed went astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
These verses mark the final closing of the letter. Final words are often significant. Paul gives his final charge to Timothy emphasizing two topics he has raised in the letter, both having to do with the false teachers in Ephesus. The first is Timothy’s character and knowledge of the truth of the gospel. He must guard the trust. A trust (phylaxon) is a deposit of something valuable that is given to an entity for safe keeping. Paul entrusted Timothy with the message of the gospel (1:18; 4:12-14). Timothy could not compromise about the essentials of this message (summarized in 3:16). The gospel was not to be changed in any way. What Paul received he passed on to Timothy who needed to pass it on faithfully to the church (2 Timothy 2:2). This was not Timothy’s message to do as he pleased but was the very message of the Almighty God of the universe.
The second issue is given in the participial clause that follows. He could guard the faith by avoiding the errors of the opponents. He should turn away from the empty talk and speculation found in the teaching Paul labels as knowledge (gnōseōs). The background of this term poses some questions. What was developing in Ephesus could have been the early stages of later Gnosticism, the major heresy facing the church in the second century. The Gnosticism that developed later taught that the unreachable and ultimate God granted a special knowledge to Jesus that released the soul from the bondage of the physical world. It combined Platonism and Christianity into a speculative doctrine. The false teachers in Ephesus were becoming involved in the initial stages of this heresy by their interests in strange teachings, myths, genealogies, and speculations (1:3-4). Becoming involved in this type of conjecture can cause a person to go astray from the faith. Timothy needed to keep his focus on the true life of verse 19.
Paul’s first letter to his young colleague, Timothy, comes to an end. Paul’s letters end with a form of prayer wish. The one for this letter is short but significant. God’s grace is what Timothy would need most to deal with the situation in Ephesus. All of God’s grace is mediated through the Son, Jesus Christ, and experienced through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. This letter calls us to examine carefully our doctrines and make sure they align with the orthodox faith passed on from the apostles as contained in the Bible. God offers salvation through Jesus the Mediator. We are invited to put our faith in this message of salvation. We must then respond with godly living. The church must train and choose leaders who exemplify this teaching and know how to train others in it.
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